“He would have been rather young for a party; but that wasn’t the reason he didn’t come. This birthday was before there was any Bee Baby. Little Bear was the only child they had.” “All right,” said the Kitten. “Then what did they do?” “At last, when they were all settled on the moonbow, Orion went into his garden. He stooped over one of the bushes, very carefully, lest he should rub against some of the others, and gave just the right kind of a pinch,—then, ‘Ah-h,’ said the Star People, as a lovely meteor flew up—up, over their heads, leaving a little trail of gold-dust behind it. “That was the beginning; and Orion had good reason to be proud of his garden, for each meteor seemed lovelier than the last. They couldn’t decide whether the blue ones were prettier than the red or the green; or those that flew in straight lines than those that flew in spirals, they were all so beautiful. “So it went on with hardly a mishap. Almost every meteor was just ripe, and Orion joggled only two so that they went off too soon; and he had come to the last two bushes. They stood side by side and were the finest in the garden; that was why he had saved them for the last. “‘What are those dogs after?’ asked Cepheus. Orion had left them with Sagittarius, in the Zodiac, for fear of accidents. “‘Where?’ called Orion, who couldn’t see from the garden, so well as they from the moonbow. “‘There they come,’ said Cassiopeia, and they all craned their necks to see. “‘Yap! yap!’ cried the dogs, and on they came; and just ahead of them—barely out of reach—was—? A comet, of course! What else could it be? It was only a scrap of a comet, with a stub of a tail, and how it was scrabbling along! “It was heading straight by, when it saw Orion standing by his meteor bushes; and what did that bad, mischievous little comet do, but turn square off, with a flirt of his saucy tail under the dogs’ noses, and make directly for the two bushes! Straight after it came the dogs—and three Orions couldn’t have stopped them, they hated a comet so—and rip—smash! they ran right through the bushes, and thirty meteors at once flew up in one splendid blaze! “Orion’s first thought was that it was a misfortune, and spoiled the end of his party. But Cassiopeia said, as soon as she could get her breath: ‘I think that was perfectly splendid! And you never would have had the heart to send them all off at once, like that!’ “‘Yes, indeed!’ said every one else; and Orion thought so, too.” “I’d rather,” said Pat. “Wouldn’t you?” “Much rather,” agreed the Princess. “Who would choose deliberately to have a party fizzle out, when it might go in [Illustration: THREE ORIONS COULDN’T HAVE STOPPED THEM ] a blaze of glory? It was time to go home, anyway; so they climbed down from the moonbow. “‘Oh, hasn’t this been the loveliest party we ever had?’ said Andromeda. “‘Yes, it has,’ said Merope. ‘And I know who has enjoyed it more than anybody.’ “‘Who?’ “‘Little Bear.’